To protest, government employees stop water supply in Manipur

Water supply to both the valley and hills in Manipur was stopped indefinitely from Saturday by angry employees of the public health and engineering department to protest the killing of an employee and his son by militants.

A spokesman of the PHED employees association told reporters that they would continue their agitation until an agreement was reached between the state government and joint action committee formed by local residents of the victims.

He said their stir may cause inconvenience to the general public but they were compelled to launch the strike since the authorities failed to take any action or to arrest the kidnappers of PHED guard Ibomcha Singh and his son Yaipu by militants.

Official sources said the father and son had been kidnapped from Irilbung water supply centre in Imphal east district on December 7 by militants who had demanded Rs 20 lakh as ransom amount from the department.

Bodies of Ibomcha Singh and his son were recovered on Friday morning with bullet injuries at Yairipok area in Thoubal district, they said.

They said some militants who called themselves the Kangleipak Communist Party-Mobil Task Force (Kesho faction) had kidnapped the victims from their official quarter at Irilbung area, nearly 8 km south of Imphal, on December 7.

Several civil organisations strongly condemned the incident, saying the victims were innocent.

They said police and department authorities had failed to rescue the two.